


With the Power of Her Fury

by bluemermaid



Category: Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Suicidal Thoughts, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-14
Updated: 2014-10-14
Packaged: 2018-02-21 04:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2454698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluemermaid/pseuds/bluemermaid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Manderley – the very thought of it, the very echo of its name inside her mind made her furious again – had been so full of love for so long, only to have that love shattered in an instant, in a moment of betrayal so powerful it had lit the match itself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	With the Power of Her Fury

**Author's Note:**

  * For [etoilecourageuse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/etoilecourageuse/gifts).



Orange light blazed in the night sky, and the smell of fire lingered on her fingertips. The woods were dark and tangled but they were safer than the home, the home which very shortly would no longer exist, would lie in ashes as though it had never been.

Anger boiled in her veins, blinded her eyesight so that she could not see where she was going, so that she stumbled over roots and rocks and bends in the forest paths, obstacles that could not stop her desperate flee.

How could she bear to live in this place anymore, now that it had lost all its pretenses? Manderley – the very thought of it, the very echo of its name inside her mind made her furious again – had been so full of love for so long, only to have that love shattered in an instant, in a moment of betrayal so powerful it had lit the match itself.

Mrs. Danvers certainly couldn't have done it, could never have destroyed the home of her lady and master. And yet that home had never really existed at all, had been nothing like Mrs. Danvers had thought it to be. It had not held the love she'd believed of it.

And so the match was lit, and the rooms went up in smoke, those precious rooms where all her lady's things had lain, where her spirit walked the halls and touched her caretaker, cold hands on warm skin at midnight. But that had all been imaginary, as imaginary as their friendship.

But how could she take that chance? How could she believe, even now, that Rebecca did not still walk those corridors? Mrs. Danvers had felt her so powerfully, master of her own domain even after death, for the true Mrs. de Winter could never have given in so easily. And yet – and yet she had died, and of something so much more horrible than could have been imagined, something which she had purposely hidden from the one who loved her most.

She hadn't cared, Rebecca had not cared for her Danny at all, she'd felt the same towards her as she had felt for her husband, they were nothing but pawns in her joyous, devious life. Mrs. Danvers could not bear it, it drove her mad with grief, as though Rebecca had died all over again in that room, mere hours before. 

How could she allow such a traitorous woman to go on tormenting her in that house? How could she not light that match, watch the fire engulf that room, the ornate mirror, the silken clothes? How could she allow Rebecca to go on when it was all nothing but a farce?

Mrs. Danvers burst out of the tree line to find herself facing the sea. Waves crashed on the shore, pounding in her ears, drowning out the sound of crackling fire behind her. Drowning.

How could she go on, knowing that her life had been thrown at the feet of someone who did not care, who secretly laughed at her devotion? How could she walk away from the ashes and forget the ghost who would still, always, linger there? She could do anything to drive the woman away, but she would never leave, not really. She would fight back at everything Danny threw at her. That had always been Rebecca's way, after all.

The ocean called to her, and she walked up to its feet, standing on the edge with the fury and grief tearing at her heart. Somewhere, she had lain in these waters, haunting them all, and waiting for discovery, waiting for her final devastating truths to be found. Waiting for Danny's heart to shatter into pieces, so that she might join Rebecca there, at the bottom of the sea. After all, they say drowning is painless, don't they?

She watched the waves coming in for a moment, fists clenched and contemplating, pondering a life without Rebecca, without that spirit by her side, keeping her warm with its cold hands and shivering presence.

But no. Rebecca had never loved her, and why, then, should Mrs. Danvers devote any more of her life to her image? It had all been for nothing, every moment of love she had ever poured over her lady's heart. It was nothing and it would forever be nothing, and flinging herself into the sea would prove no better, would seal no bond between them, would unite no spirits beneath the waves. Rebecca would rebuff her still, even in death.

Mrs. Danvers looked down at her hands and saw that she was carrying Rebecca's nightgown, her favorite item of clothing. She had not even realized she had taken it with her out of the house. It still, after all this time, it still smelled of Rebecca. She would smell that haunting scent for the rest of her life, possibly. Or she would banish it and be rid of all it forever. It did not do, anymore, to remember, to hold things precious to her heart. They betrayed her, all of them, and she would not be weak enough to cling to betrayal. She could not bear it.

She tossed the gown out into the air, where the wind caught it and pulled it out to sea, dragged beneath the waves to be lost forever. No matter where Rebecca's spirit lay, whether in the watery depths or in the ashes of Manderley, she would not have her hold on Mrs. Danvers's heart, for they would both be destroyed with the power of her fury.

She turned around and marched blindly back into the trees, with no idea where she would end up. She could only hope it would not be again to Rebecca.


End file.
